@NNewt84 Said
And that right there is the problem -
strong female characters. The idea of a woman kicking a** and getting into fights isn't bad in itself, but its constant use and over-saturation in the media is what ruined it for me. Not to mention, it most likely resulted from the film industry misinterpreting what feminists meant when they said they wanted stronger female characters - what we mean when we say that is that we want female characters that actually have depth and personality to them, and aren't just cheaply written stereotypes. Now, I'm not one to force people to include female characters just for the sake of having female characters, but if someone
wants to have well-rounded female characters in their story, they should be allowed to, right?
Personally, I think a better example of a "strong" female character would be Riley Anderson from Disney/Pixar's
Inside Out. Why? Because she is actually well-written, complex and relatable, and she seems like a real human being, instead of being a stereotypical action heroine, damsel in distress, femme fatale or any other female stereotype. I also like how they managed to write her as a tomboy without making that her entire character, unlike, say, Terk from Disney's
Tarzan, or Marcia Mouse from
The Adventures of Blinky Bill. (But then again, maybe that's because she's the protagonist, whereas Terk, Marcia and similar stereotypical tomboys are side characters, but it still saddens me a bit to think that tomboys are typically depicted as a walking punchline.)
Another example I might add would be Maggie Pesky, protagonist of the short-lived Disney animated series
The Buzz on Maggie. Maggie may not be the most complex of characters, but I don't think she was meant to be - the show was largely a slapstick comedy, and I'll get to that in a moment. But nevertheless, Maggie was smart, ambitious, and always willing to follow her dreams and not the crowd. (Not to mention that she wanted to become a rock musician, a traditionally male-dominated profession, and even then she didn't dwell on her gender; she just wanted to follow her passion for rock music.) She could even be downright selfish at times, and most of her schemes backfired and went completely out of control, but she typically learned her lesson in the end. I always like characters who don't have to be written a specific way for their gender alone (and this also applies to males, by the way), and instead are allowed to just act however the writer wants them to, according to their personal tastes; it allows for more dynamic writing, and just a more interesting product.
And speaking of which, let's talk about the slapstick - it's probably well known that females are typically not involved in this style of comedy, due to double standards in regards to intersexual violence. However,
The Buzz on Maggie didn't care about that - it actually took risks, and put characters of both sexes in amusing situations where they would get their thoraxes handed to them in over-the-top, comedic fashions. There was even an episode ("Scum Bites" ) in which Maggie actually gets pinned down by three security guards at the airport. I won't ruin
why she got pinned down - because trust me, it's hilarious - but I will say it wasn't gender-related, so there's no need to worry about it. It just goes to show that you
can do slapstick with female characters (or any genre for that matter), if you focus on making it well-written, and not so much on the characters.
So yeah, that's my say on "strong" female characters. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
You are missing the big picture. For Hollywood it is all about the money. In this day and age, female roles are not just women that are always needing 'Superman' to come save them.
You also listed movies with 'strong' female characters. And those are good.
Personally I think Hollywood makes more fun of male characters than female right now. And I don't get butt hurt about it. It is funny and I can only get offended if I allow myself to be. So I think you are making much to do about nothing.